Web feed apparatus



Feb.f1s, 1960 R. 1-HOLLIS `2,925,270

WEB FEED APPARATUS Filed March 14, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet' l fuman L 5 Joef 55 2 55 4 fi 28 7' 71 7 15 74 1 7l Il u as l az u av 6/ l l Il ll I ll l 79 ,w 5 5 m 9 9 ff; f/s /f/ /09 fzs I M 117 A f/fp 1 25 K fzs /a'l39 /35' 55 l fsf A vfav 4*l" vl /lVyE/Ysf {Mfr/*54u05 E Feb. 16, 1960 R.F.4HoLLls 'I 2,925,270

' l WEB FEED APPARATUS Filed March14, 1957 E l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2wrdn/.cya

w I sarne-t1me to maintain, on'the.;

5 g; #Othferbject's becomeapparenttothos thejar't theglight of thefollowingescript accompanying)drawing.i `v 1- n In accordance4 ith this`invention-*generally stated, vanV 'o'at'ing rolls around theunderside'of'successiv Y. -a `web passes. `The oatinglrolls arevgrat/ity ,blaserl*by*y one or more weights medately connected totliefroll'sfv 2,925.27@ WEB'FEED APPARATUS f' Robert F. Hollis, Alton,lllnassignorto Alton Box fBoard Qompnyilton, Ill., a corporation of.Delaware Y Y the input ofweb to the infeed device, to restore therollsto a' preset zero positionVVV when A they have moved 1in response-to a` tension. iin-'- fbalanceintheweb. Y

In the drawing: #Figure 1 is a View inside elevation, diagrammaticcharactenof an illustrative embodiment of an infeecljv f deviceofthis'invention in faweb processing apparatus;

Figure 2 is v anenlarged sectional-.view in side `elevations Thisinventionrelates to machinery for the substan' tially continuousprocessing of a web.,

l' 'I`he'. apparatus off th's inventionwill be. described in lconnection with the'processing.ofpaperboard It is to be understoodhowever, thatthey device has application vto any web` of sheetmaterialfsu'ch asfplastic, rubber. steel, brass, various nietal Vf)ils,:and the like,

l I1`1 amtary printer .and b1 making machines, a web ofpaperboard ispulled `from a large unwind roll ofpaperboard. AsV yone unwind Jrollis.ftnchaiisfted,v a new one is p ut vintoposi-tion and the treel wbend.bf the new rllf'sdoined t0 the .qldlwehjf'The printersandjblankersaifegso constructed that allaplsplice have -tvoibe stoppedvandstar'ted agains; v

Heretofore 'devices lhave'been used so that the printingA and blankingmachinery fdoes not n which are .exelnf pljied byFigure 1 of a patenttorE. E@C arretggINo.` 2 606,l3)6.r` 'l`ypic ally, these prior-artdevices have utif lizd afreeloop or" webbetwee11 the unwindmroll andfeed rolls to the press. unit tofseparate'thexpress unit from thesplic'eriand storage device, .whicl1-inj- Garrett the form of atower.Nonefofthese prior .art'denkerjfor paperboardL box;y

Yillustrative'embodiment of this invention.

I-ligure 4 -is Va fragmentary ltakenalong i the line 4 -4jof Figur e 2;-

i v I f Figure 5 iis a -fragmentary sectional View 'takenjalong view linside elevation of the de vice of thisinvention in Athe ourse ofresponding to a tension'V imbalance inthe f rv`Referring, no'wto the]drawing for an illustrative em` bodiment of invention; reference numeral1 indi-' cate's`an-infeedunit constructed in accordance with an The'infeed' uni t- 1 is .positioned .between an automatic splicer' 2 and ftheiirstgunitrofa rotary paperboard box printing press 3.'

:1 In the illustrative application of this' unitshown in the drawings(aweb of paperboard 5 is pulled from an u'n-l "ofl arrangement bev madewhichQjwill permit vthe printer andyblainlerto be operated whilegthesplice is being made,

mountedonreel stand 9. In the situation ligurel,v theunwind rollf7 fromwhieh theweb en pulled is nearly exhausted Landia second-"webi rllj'l'TheLWeligor iw bs tend from' thei unwind rolli -r mediatelyr beyond thesplicerZ are primary infeedpull; Y y rolls 15; g lromzi-the primaryinfeed =rolls 151the wehren- 1 tenths uniti. The fwebispuuedfromz-the;uniti' y press pull .rolls 17.

shown in Figures '1fand'f 2,; th e web leaving` )unltliandenteringgtherotary press 3 isunder tension.:

'. That isv to s ay, there is no loop of untensioned'web 'bev vices hasbeen capable of'operating at the fullspeed at 'whichprinter andblanket;V units can `be run. lor exrnplegif 4the ifulljratedspeed is960; feetper minute, the]` rlitticultl-traelrin'g` problems since v:the,web is neC e'fs's'aril uncontrolledQwhenthereis no tension in infeeddevice,v and Y'inltermittennt recess of the device,'a constant`substantially unifornftension inthe `we b.

iiifiedA device is ppvided'yvith @minpunt of by springs' in such .fa wayas 'topermit limitedlyindepen tweenfthe unity and the Vpress pull rolls17 The infeedunit 1v inj the embodimentshownf'fis.sup@

ported lby. Qajstanchionz madeupof legs -21 connected The stanchion 20`carries a madevjup of.; a of horizontally spaced.:

pillow biockafzozin:

present in the web when it reachestheQ infeedv device; k-

they reach the limits nof their i and between the lower rails 26directly below the roll 64 next to the centerV column 32 in the leftsection 47. A right section guide roll 91, mounted for rotation betweenand below the lower rails 26, lies directly below the roll 64 next tothe center column 32 in the right section 45.

Each of the spindles 88 of the rolls 71 through 86 projects beyond itsbearing 59 on either side and carries on each of its projecting en ds alink-carrying bearing 93, from which a link 95, in the form of an eyebolt, depends. A spring 97 hangs from each of the links 95.`

All of the rolls 71 through 86 are inter-'connected mediately, the links95 and springs 97 being the last or quaternary stage, in the overalllinkagesystem.V

The springs carried by the spindles of the rolls 71 and 72 are connectedto the opposite ends of a quaternary or Q-link V1511. Rolls 73 and 74are coupled through 4a Q-link 103; rolls 75 and 76, through a Q link105; rolls 77 and 78 through a Q-link 107; rolls 79 and tl'through aQ-link 109; rolls 81 and S2 through a Q-link 111; rolls 83 and 84through a Q-link 113; and rolls 85 and 86 through a Q-link 115. Springs117 are pivotallysuspended from the center of each of the Q-links and inturnsuppoit tertiary links, to which 'they are pivotally connected atthe ends of the tertiary links. Thus, Q-links 101 and 103 are coupled tothe ends of a tertiary'or T-link 121; Q-links 105 and 107 are coupled toa-.T-link 1-23; Q-l'inks 109 and 11, to T-l-'ink 125 and Qilinks 113and. 115, to yT-link 127. VA spring 129 is pivotall'y suspended fromthecenter of eachof the '1T-links. kThe spring 129 suspended from theT-link l121 iis pivotally` connected to onerend of a secondary or S-link1371, to the other end of which the spring 129 from the T-'link 123 ispivotally connected. Similarly, the springs 129 from the T-links 125 and127 are connected to opposite ends of an S-link 133. A spring 135 is`piv'otally suspended from the center of each of the S-links -131 and133. The springs 135 are pivotally connected to opposite? ends of aprimary link 137.

u rollrvand passes through `the nip between the pull rolls 1-5.'F-romthe nipto the pull rol-ls 15 the vweb extends substantiallyvertically past the guide roll 90 to the upper roll 64 next to thecenter column 32 in the left section 47 of the unit 1. The web makes aturn of 180 around the roll 64 and passes down around the lower half'ofthe floating roll 71; thence upto ,the next upper roll 64 and down tothe iloating roll 72 and so on until, after leaving the iloatingroll',78, it passes around `the outside of the roll 64 farthest from thecenter rollV 62 in the left section 47. From therethe web extends overthe top of the center column roll. 44 to the top of the roll 64 farthestfrom the center column 32 in the right section 45; thence down aroundthe oating roll 79, up to the next roll 64 While as has been pointed outheretofore, the-*illustra- In the embodiment shown, weightsY 139, intheformV of lead plates, are bolted toleach of the primary links -137 thetwo linkage systems to level thev rolls l'71Y through 86.*` The crossbar141 is connected by meansV of a exible cable 145 Vto a sensing'deviceorlevel control 147.? The 'sensingdevice v147 whichin the v.embodimentshown, is mounted on one leg 21 of the stanchion 20,1;"rnaybea` standardcommercial deviceV of the character of thedifferential transformers,soldlunder they trade-namesfAtcotran and VSS. Such differentialtransformers .sense not only a change invertical position Vof the.cross-bar 14,1'but the amount tof that change. Thesensingdevice Y 147lis connected through its circuit 148,:shown/ dia.- grammatically, to amotor 149 which :drives the primary infreed pull-rolls 15. Intheembodiment shown,;the motor 149,-,drives the pull rolls .15;positively through 'gears -1'5-1. In practice, the travel. oftheflexible cable 145 is'too great-for direct connection -to thedifferential transformer, and suitable proportional reduction isprovided.

, decreasing lviolence and theA subsequent' rolls `Will 'b'e The travelof theweb `through the unit 1 is asfollows:`

Fromlthe splicer 2, `the web 5 .extends belowV thelower of `ther pullVrolls 15,'make`s a turn of .180 around the' lower jam pads.

ately to the rolls.

tivel application shown yand describedherein isl only one of many inwhich theV device of thisinvention maybe used and the dimensions even ofa unit for use with paperboard may be varied, the following descriptionof' the operation of the device illustrated will be describedV withreference to a specific unit in a specific situation to illustrate justwhat can be accomplished by the use ofthe device.

In -the following description, the device will: be vassumed to have thefollowing dimensions:V the upper and lower rails are about 12 feet longand are spaced vertically 5 feet. Thus, each of the sections '45 and 47is 6 feet long and 5 feet high. T he rails 267and-30 are spacedhorizontally approximately; 31/2 feet; i'flheY rolls 64 and '71 through'S6 are-approximately l/r-inches in diameter at their crowns, andarerrnounted on ,8 inchy centers. TheyV are preferably made'of aluminumand weigh approximately 35 pounds apiece. v

The weights 139v and 143 total approximately `300` pounds.

Y The web 5 of paperboard from `unwind roll 7 is thirty six inches wide.It will also be assumed thatthe iroll 7 has been dropped so thatrit 'hasin it humps which would normally -interferewith its smooth'feed into theprinter, and-the 'caliper ofthe paper varies. The web is being fed intothe printer at the rate of 960 feet per minute. With the vweight of therolls 71 through 86, the floating bearing blocks 59, kthe linkage systemand the' weights `139 and 143, the tension on thev web *'5 when thesystem is in equilibrium, y'with .the floating rollvs71 through 36lifted abovetheV jam padsj 61 on the upper side of the rails 26, isapproximately 50 .'pounds."` In the normalrunning (zero) position,theprolls 71 through'f86'will be approximately 6'inches aboveth'e' y Thetension on the web through the infee'd unit 1 is enough to ensure propertracking over the crowned rollers in spite .of thecaliper variation.

Generally, even'a poor offset mill'splice lwhich may;

shown up Yfrornthe roll 7 0will pass Athrough the .infeed cienttobreakthe web at the splice.

.- unit without trouble because the low tensionV is insuf-- ing. rolls71' through 78` will react with progressively quiet 'as the pulses inthe' web are smoothed out by the action of the springs connectedimmediately and medi- O'rdinarily, pulses and jolts will be damped'bythe rst four rolls 71 through 74'. Thus, even before the webleaves theleft section 47 it will be feeding smoothly. Y.

Assume'now thatthe web 5 is being fed Vto'the printer and blanket 3 Vat960 feet per minute, and the System y i is in equilibrium. Theunwindroll 7 isnearingexllaus? tion anda newroll 7' is swungintomposition with its web 5' tending from it.,` Vflhegfeed fromthe111,655, 12u11 l the` e 41,1"fr1al,v position l of the' floatin a'process which normally takes-approXimateKly-two sec otitis;A Afbuttsplice is made-hy `the spliceKrfZ, which v 'may vbe eithervsemi-ai'itoniatic or completely faiutomatric.,` The splice is madewhilethe Webs andf'jSl -are'stationary in Ktlie-'Vsplicer 2. Y' The gsplicing'. "operationy take'sa'n' kaddif tional'qtvvotsecond's."Theprima'ry infe'edjrolls 15 are thenfstarted'fupand broughtup"to"spe`ed,fwhich ,requires another twofsecodsffSo farI sfthe presspullrolls 17;

anjecoricerned, there has beeiofclange during the en# the unit 1 atffullspeed 'andY 'atV substantially theequilibriumf tension." 4

begin to *rise` Kas Yindicatedjjir'r'Figurer '6, During theysplicingtime, the rolls 861through179 progressively lrise until they'sequentially hit the jam* pads 61 on thejiinlerfY Y side of theupperrails 30. V`As the iioatingroll 79K'KriKses,Kf

the roll 78'i1'iftheleft` section 47 begins tof,1ise andI aK similarpattern of sequential rising 'Koflthe iloating rollsj 78 through; 7-1takesplace. v

As the primary infeed'frolls115 areV again-K.speeded'u"p`,lfY

thejlloating rolls will continue to rise until the primary pull rolls1f7.K.v YThe primary 'infeefd rolls are then'over-` drivenwwith respecttothe press 'p ulljrolls, '17, and ithe order fromV that in 'which theyrose.

Honing.1011sy will beginL to move. down .in .the reverse it normal"Position though, since `lKsfis Y about K6 ,.lhe .capacity oi the unit in"practicKeis approximate totalftime elapsing inthe splicing,operationgis' 6s'e conds.f

Thus, with the webniling at` 960 feet pe`rmini1 te,96` feetof vWeb wouldbe pulled from the infeeddevice. if. theprirn'ary infee'd'rolls ,were`stopped; instantaneously;

, rollsithemselv's-aemadeas light yveightfas possihl springs take upanymomentary jo1ts, andtheioating rolls; jK i.

'are free to rise and Vfall within' their guideways.: K 1 K `Ifylthe"pre ss`is slowed down for some reason, o'r even ,Y if theapressrisfsuddenly stopped' dead, as*` Ain anfemer-K`gency,theinfeedjdevice will act; to keep the tensionqin Y i theWebconstant'at the press pull roll. Further-moreun-j llike-thef'complicated tower mechanism f ofA gears andvr clutches of the'prior'artfthe infeed unit of the present in- 1(K)fventio"nvcannotbedamaged byavery sudden stop. The

primary infed Krolls 'stopwith' the press, 'and their drive flisbuiltfto withstandsuch a shock. There is' nothing i K-thev'infeedun'itfitself to `:be damaged.

fffwithin' the infejed device', whenthe primary inifeedr rolls 15 arestopped, the"'floatingV rolls 8K61'through 79' zof -The fact at' the{printer and blanker may beoperated continuously*atauniformfspeed vandtension with the infeedru'nit ofjthe; present invention yis of greatimportance, not only in thatit allows for greater-:production in thesame lengthV of time,'but also in that it eliminates rnan'y-registryproblems and the like vvhich have resulted vvhen -tKhe webhashadto be slowed down for each splice; `Forexarn'ple, :register isaffected by the change of rolling frictionofthe web on the intagliocylinders. A constant e speed eliminatesthis problein. 'At the'sametime, the

- infeed rolls have reached the sarrre speedasfthepress ally, sincethejprimar'yfinfeed,.rolls slow downto lst'p; andspeed up to, full."speeddur'ing k,that'siir second period, only.` about. 6K4feet-o'flvveh ,is-pul1'ed froith'e vinfeed; device. fr

Ywith ,suitable simpleeledtrieiiipcircuifs the; perafdii heeft:

Seqne, bia

frei y14,7,gradually slowsrhejmoforglisuhtil, when 111ev A Than-',141has reahe'dh'rhe. normar or, zerogporsvirion,

the ninagyjinfeed `rouis have pesngbropght smoothly;Yintovsynchronizatiorn withthepress pull-rolls V17, and the ijldtingrolls,11`.througl 1} Y86y 1arefin equilibrium position.

1 1;i Kcanbe seen' thatsincethev total Kn/eight onf,.Kthe vveb Ythrug-h'gthefv infKeedldevK,iceremainsl constant, the.k floating the'W;eb,.as.. it.,comes .from the device remain. 'sub1stantially'constant.4 'Ifherewill ofcourse be ,some change whilef'thejlioating A.rolls K- are fin- Vthe process l oKKfKA moving veritically,`but that changevvill be relatively small, since the,

device lit 'this invention permits the splice to be made on'-a'stationaryy web, which simplifies the design of the splicerV and makespossible a strong, neat splice. f l

`Numerous variations'in thev construction of the'f device of thisinvention Within the scope ofthe appended vclaims will" occrftothoseskilled inthe art in the light of, the foregoingv disclosure. ForYexarriple, the l top rolls -64 need notbejurnaledinlrigidly'iixedbearings butmaybe'` spring suspended'or `.tllerwi'secushionedto assist inttheiV` damping` f.-p'ulses1inV thevWeb,"Withoutfinterfering withvv theslb'stantially runiform tension*yiny the"Vr vvfebe resulting Krequipped-vv-ithKa,sofcalledftension;dynamoineter,,sotliatttheiiactualvtension'=in1fthe web"emay?belcheckedf1K1Whilethenarrangementof linkages shown is' the preferredjonebecau'sethefaction -ofl all the rolls/K is;y integrated," andeonitrolled by'one level control, the lioating'V rolls inthe rightv sectionv need not )be connected tothe lioating rollsin` .the left-section'47..1 The secondary l1'n l:s"1317and.133@K` may be providedwyithWeights.' Cer-tain of the connecting v springs canne-eliminated;,Forexample', the springs'l'SS' may be;replced Vsolidliriltsybecausemuch ofthe work' of damping iwillrvbe. accomplished by' the springs.--SVfandKV 1157.V ,Ther number ofrolls maybe increased or decreased,v

versed,jorv the processes onihoth'sides can Ybe 'continuousV orlintermittentgri In any event, the Yinfeedv .devicev willserveafunctionzfif.thereislan opportunity-for the process i,onf-.one'side, tojA loennsynchronized with 4the process 0,11 theKoth rside.`V -If'rit istcontemplated thatithegprocess;

outgoing side of 'theinfeedf uuKit is to; be slowed orwtoppedwithrespect to the'processon the incomingA f;the-jinfKeedfunit,` then the'.normal or zero .POsi-` the floating. rolls Vrnustfbenear the upper limitl of` travel of Vtheoating rolls rather than nearthe-lovver` e .limit oftravel.. yInnany'e'vent, theinfeed. device isolatesV e -oneflineofinachinery. For 'example oneinfeed Vnnitg the process yon the'outgoingside fromthe process. j.m theA incomingI side While maintainingtensionKon-the web suf- KKKVY Kf ficientfto ensure propel-Kl trackingand Vcontrol over Vthe-Kweb;` K

.Twoor morefof thel infeed devices may be2used'vin celibe vgsitig'edbetween' the unwind m11. andthe' pril ingv section off a rotary printerandhlanker as hasbreen 7 described, and another can be.- nositioned;between the printingsection and blankingsection, not only to-danrn thepulsations :fromthe'blanking sectionl but to isolate.. the printing andblanking sections'from one` another so that the registry problems in thetwo vsections, can be handled independently. Y

The control ofV the tension in the web which is rexer-r cised by thelevel control may be exercised in any ,num-v ber of suitable ways. Forexample, a pull roll lon, they outgoing side can be speeded up toincrease web tension, or rolls on the incoming side may be braked toaccomplish the same result. The advantage of the preferred method, ofcontrolling the speed of rotatiQll Of the pri,- mary infeed rolls, inthe application shown lies in the fact that the press roll speedr may bemaintained C 01.1- stant, and no actual braking is necessary. so thatthe prob` lems of over-heating and grabbing of brakes is notencountered.

It can be seen that the particular linkage. system of the illustrativeexample is only possible when there are sixteen floating rolls. By usinga different number of rolls, the system can be weighted either infavorof or against particular sets of rolls. For example, if six oatingrolls are used in the left section 47 and pairs of successive rolls arejoined as in the illustrative 1embodiment, there will be three Q-linksinstead of four. If the two Q-links farthest from the center column `32are connected by a T-link and that T-link is in turn connected to oneend of an S-link, while the Q-link next to the center column 32 isconnected directly to the other end of the S-link, the violent reactionof the two rolls next to the center column in response to pulses fromthe unwind roll Vwill be reflected in the S-link and the primary link toa much greater degree than if the Q- link next to the center link wereconnected through a T-link to the next successive Q-linkV and the Qflinkfarthest from the center column 32 were connected directly to one end ofan S-link. In Vthe latter case the motion of the oating rolls next tothe column 32 would be minimized as that motion is reected in theprimary link. The weighting is, of course, even greater when an odd rollis connected directly through its spring 97 to one end of a T or S-link.It can also be seen that to connect thirty-two oating rolls together inpairs, a set of quintary links must be provided, pairs of which will beconnected to a quaternary link, and so on, but the principle of theiroperation is the same.

Numerous other variations in the vconstruction and arrangement of theinfeed device, within vthe scope of the appended claims, will beapparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoingdisclosure. For example, in. order to facilitate feeding of'the webthrough the infeed device, the spindles 88 of the rolls 71 through 86may be extended beyond the link-carrying bearings 93 and provided attheir ends with capsule bearings. The capsule bearings, one *on each endof each spindle, are positioned to rest on top of an .I beam when the Ibeam is elevated. The I beam is constructed and arranged to be elevatedand lowered horizontally by means ofl jack screws driven by a reversiblemotor. Thus, when it is desired to thread the infeed device, it is Vonlynecessary to raise the beam by means of the jack screwsl until the beamcontacts the capsule bearings and then, with .con-

e tinued elevation of the I beam, the -rolls 71'thfroughl 86 will beraised to a position immediately below theyupper rolls 64. The webr'canthen easily be threaded through the infeed device, after which the Ibeam is lowered beyond the lowermost travel of the rolls 71 through 86so as to be out of the way during the operation of the device. Havingthus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be securedby Letters Patent is:

l. In a rotary paperboard printer wherein a web of paperboard is pulledfrom an unwind roll and a web of paperboard from a fresh unwind roll isspliced to the Si webtef' paperboard from an exhausted. unwind roiiby a;mechanicalpiicer while.v thev printer continues: t0. Oper:Y ate, theimprovement comprising an infeed deviceJ priinfeed pull rnlls betweenthe Sp1icerand-theinind device, and press. pull rolls between the,infeed. device. and the. printer, said. infeed. device comprisinga'multiplicity of rolls over which the web travels andbetween which theweb` hangs in loops, the niunberl of rolls b eingl such4 that 2, loopsare provided, n being an integer greater than one; vertical guidewaysbelow said rolls;A a tioating4 roll resting on the web within each of4the loops, said oating rolls being-journaled in bearings slidablymounted, in said guide ways to permit said rolls to float verti. cally,said oating rolls being biased downwardly-'solely by gravity, wherebythe floating rolls respond to varying tension in the web by verticaltranslation, eachY o f said oating rolls carrying` `on each of `its endsa spring, the springson each respective end. of successive rolls beingcoupledV Vto opposite ends of a link, said links in turnbeing coupled inpairs to ranother link, and so on until all of the iioating rolls areinter-connected through a comomn link, the common links on both sides ofthe rolls being V.connected by a crossbar;and a controlresponsive tochange in position of the cross-bar and connected to contorl the speedzof rotation of the primary infeed pull rolls, whereby when the cross-barrises above a preset normal position the primary infeed pull roll isspeeded up and vice versa, the vertical reach of the loops and thenumber of oating rolls being such that the in. feed device contains a-suiiicient length of web to accommodate the demand of the printerduring the splicing operation. i'

2. In a line of machinery wherein a web .of material is processed athighspeed, Van infeed device, positioned intermediatethe .ends of Vthe line,comprising amultif plicity of idler rolls over which the web travelsin.. ak

- of successive rolls being connected toY opposite ends of a commonlink, for limitedly independent movementof the individual rolls, wherebythe floating rolls respondv to varying tension in the web by verticaltranslation and whereby the tension impartedV to the web b y the oatingrolls'is the same at every position of the floating rolls when thetension in the web is in equilibrium.

i3. In a line of machinery `wherein a web of material is processed andin which the machinery in one part of the line is occasionally run, at adierent web speedV than the machinery in` another partof the line for alength of time which ,v does not exceed 'a' knownl maximum, an infeedkdevice positioned between the. machinery in,y the Ysaid two parts ofthe line, said infeed device comprising A, a multiplicity of 4idlerrollsover WhCh'thevweb travels inralsingle pass and between which theweb hangs in loops, there being at least' four of said loopsga Ailoatingroll resting on the web vwithineach of 'the' loops ,said iioatingyrolls'being arrangedto oat vertically and being biased downwardly solelyby'gravity whereby the oating rolls respond ,to varying tension in-theweb hy vertical translation; and link s, pivotally suspended fromadjacent datingrdils'each 0f Said links being Suspended at only two,spaced pointsand .each adjacent link be'ing pivotally connected to andsuspending 0a connecting link, each of said connecting linksbeingsuspended at only two, spaced points, whereby all ofthe said linksand said floating rolls are pivotally interconnected, said floatingrolls having sufficient vertical'travel andbeing of suicient numberftoprovide storage for an amount of web at least equal to the productofthegaveragedifference between the speeds of thek web through ytheniahinery inthe two parts of the line and the said intermediate the endsofthe line, comprising a multiplicity of idler rolls over which-'thevweb travels in a single pass and between which the web hangs in loops;

amultiplicity of oatng rolls, s each resting onttheweb within one of theloops, said floating rolls being ar-` ranged to oat vertically; links,pivotally suspended from said oating rolls, and connecting links,pivotally suspended from said oating roll-suspended links, each of saidfloating roll-suspended links l' carrying a connecting link, each ofsaid -oating rolls being` connected` toV a Y v to i link, and al1 of`said links being-suspended at only two,

spaced-points.

References Cited in the fiile of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 's lWebb Oct. 12, 1926 1,616,363 Gammeter Feb. 1, 1927 1,624,223 Eakin n-..e Apr.l 12,1927 1,631,476 DeMoos June 7, 1927 2,253,076 Jones etal.Aug. 19, 1941 2,280,943. Ferm Apru28, 1942 Lorig June 25, 1957

